Greek rescuers were searching for survivors Friday after a migrant boat sank off the island of Crete, leaving at least nine people dead and hundreds feared missing.
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The coast guard said the vessel resembled a large fishing boat which had been carrying a “significant number” of people when it was located roughly 75 miles south of Crete.
Ships, helicopters and planes are engaged in the rescue operation.
It is not immediately clear where the boat came from or the nationalities of passengers on board. A rescue operation is taking place in worldwide waters and both the Greek and Egyptian authorities are involved.
Under that deal, those arriving on Greek islands from March 20 onwards face deportation back to Turkey unless they successfully apply for asylum in Greece, a financially troubled country few migrants or refugees want to stay in.
Greek tourist islands in the Aegean witnessed the arrival of hundreds of thousands of people crossing in flimsy boats from Turkey a year ago, many of them refugees fleeing the war in Syria.
The bodies of two children were among those recovered, he said.
– August 22: Some 170 migrants from Africa drown when their boat sinks off the Libyan coast.
The death toll in the southern Mediterranean has mounted in recent weeks by migrants attempting sea crossings from North Africa to Europe this year.
Smugglers in Libya have exploited political chaos and lawlessness to expand their activities along routes from sub-Saharan Africa, often working with local militias.
The United Nations estimated on Tuesday that 880 migrants died since last Wednesday as they attempted the passage from Libya to Italy.
The UN said this week that more than 2,500 people had died in 2016 trying to make the journey towards Western Europe.
The Greek coast guard told CNN that the number of migrants on board was likely less than the estimate from the immigration organization.
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The coast guard did not indicate if that boat, which the migrants said had left from Turkey, was heading for Italy or whether the smugglers had chosen the route through the southern Aegean to reach Greece by avoiding NATO ships deployed further north and east.
